What is a Blog? – Definition of Terms Blog, Blogging, and Blogger
Do you know what a blog is?
If you don’t, then you’ve come to the right place. In 1994, when blogs began, a blog was more of a personal diary that people shared online. In this online journal, you could talk about your daily life or share about things that you were doing. Then, people saw an opportunity to communicate information in a new way online. Thus began the beautiful world of blogging.
What is a Blog?
Definition | Meaning of blog:
A blog (a shortened version of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website displaying information in reverse chronological order, with the latest posts appearing first, at the top. It is a platform where a writer or a group of writers share their views on an individual subject.
Today, there are more than 570 million blogs on the web. The number of bloggers in the USA alone is set to reach 31.7 million users by 2020.
What is the purpose of a blog?
There are many reasons to start a blog for personal use and only a handful of strong ones for business blogging. Blogging for business, projects, or anything else that might bring you money has a very straightforward purpose – to rank your website higher in Google SERPs, a.k.a. increase your visibility.
As a business, you rely on consumers to keep buying your products and services. As a new business, you rely on blogging to help you get to potential consumers and grab their attention. Without blogging, your website would remain invisible, whereas running a blog makes you searchable and competitive.
So, the main purpose of a blog is to connect you to the relevant audience. Another one is to boost your traffic and send quality leads to your website.
The more frequent and better your blog posts are, the higher the chances for your website to get discovered and visited by your target audience. This means that a blog is an effective lead generation tool. Add a great call to action (CTA) to your content, and it will convert your website traffic into high-quality leads. A blog also allows you to showcase your niche authority and build a brand.
When you use your niche knowledge for creating informative and engaging posts, it builds trust with your audience. Great blogging makes your business look more credible, which is especially important if your brand is still young and fairly unknown. It ensures presence online and niche authority at the same time.
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Blog structure
The appearance of blogs has changed over time, and these days blogs include a wide variety of items and widgets. However, most blogs still include some standard features and structures.
Here are common features that a typical blog will include:
- Header with the menu or navigation bar.
- Main content area with highlighted or latest blog posts.
- Sidebar with social profiles, favorite content, or call-to-action.
- Footer with relevant links like a disclaimer, privacy policy, contact page, etc.
The above example is the basic structure of the average blog. Each item has its own importance and helps visitors to navigate through your blog.
Blogs and websites
Many people still wonder if there is any difference between a blog and a website. What is a blog and what is a website? It’s even more challenging to differentiate between the two today. Many companies are integrating blogs into their websites as well, which further confuses the two.
What differentiates blogs from websites?
Blogs need frequent updates. Good examples of this include a food blog sharing meal recipes or a company writing about their industry news.
Blogs also promote reader engagement. Readers have a chance to comment and voice their different concerns and thoughts to the community. Blog owners update their site with new blog posts on a regular basis.
On the other hand, websites consist of the content presented on static pages. Static website owners rarely update their pages.
Key elements that identify a blog post from a static website page include a publishing date, author reference, categories, and tags within a byline. While not all blog posts have all of those byline elements, static website pages do not have any of these items.
From a visitor’s perspective, the content on a static site will not change from one visit to the next. However, depending on the blog owner’s publishing schedule, the content on a blog will offer something new each day, week, or month.
What is blogging?
In the early 2000s, blogging emerged in a variety of forms when several political blogs were born. Blogs with how-to manuals also began to appear. Established institutions began to note the difference between journalism and blogging.
Definition of blogging
Blogging is a collection of skills that one needs to run and supervise a blog. This entails equipping a web page with tools to make the process of writing, posting, linking, and sharing content easier on the internet.
Why is blogging so popular?
It’s important to mention that the popularity of blogging grows with each passing day!
To answer the question ‘what is blogging’, we need to look at the factors behind its rise.
In the early stages, blogs became mainstream, as news services began using them as tools for outreach and opinion forming. They became a new source of information.
Through blogging, businesses saw a positive way to improve their customer’s level of satisfaction. Blogs assist companies in keeping clients and customers up to date. Also, the more people that visit your blog, the more exposure and trust your brand gets.
Personal and niche bloggers saw the potential to reach more people interested in specific topics. Through a blog, visitors can comment and interact with you or your brand which helps you to create a network of loyal followers.
Did you know that you could earn money through blogging? Once your blog receives enough attention and fans, you can investigate ways of monetizing your blog. Through the blog, you can offer your services and sell products.
Who is a blogger?
In recent times, bloggers have become famous for various reasons. Blogging has become an alternative career or side gig for many. Seeing this, even more, people are choosing to join the blogging ranks.
So who are bloggers? Bloggers are individuals who love sharing parts of their lives with you. They post on various topics from arts, home designs, carpentry, and finance articles. Bloggers are mobile and don’t need to be in one place. They live on the internet!
Definition of a blogger
A blogger is someone who runs and controls a blog. He or she shares his or her opinion and knowledge on different topics for a target audience.
Why are many people blogging today?
Would you want to have a blog of your own? Yes!
Most people today are creating blogs for a variety of reasons. Every human being has their own story to tell. Through the internet, bloggers can communicate with a massive number of people.
Why is blogging so popular?
Blogs allow you to talk about any topic you are interested in and express your opinion. You’ll find some bloggers writing on every activity that took place during their day. These activities may range from small things like waking up to major issues like human rights and climate change!
Remember that as a blogger running your own blog, you need to focus on the topics that you are passionate about, and through that focus strive to become one of the best blogs on the web.
Are bloggers getting paid?
Our blogging industry survey proves that bloggers do earn money, but this is not a get-rich-quick kind of profession. Before you can start monetizing your blog, you need to build both your Google SERPs ranking and your niche influence. Those tasks take a lot of time and quality content.
Money-making opportunities won’t present themselves until you’ve gained some credibility in the field. So, get down to business.
Here’s how you can make good money as a top-ranked niche blogger:
- Selling ad space on your blog privately or via Google AdSense.
- Becoming an affiliate partner privately or through ads networks.
- Selling your own digital products such as eBooks and tutorials.
- Selling memberships for access to exclusive content or advice.
- Using your blog as a content marketing tool for your business.
If you’re starting a blog as a way to market and boost your existing business, you probably won’t be selling ad space or memberships. However, you can create and start offering exclusive digital products such as eBooks, guides, or online courses as a lead capturing tool in exchange for visitors’ email addresses. That way, you’ll nudge them one step further down your sales funnel.
Want to start a blog on your own?
Creating your own personal blog takes a few steps. First, you need to decide on a name for your blog, also called a domain name. Then, you need to choose the best blogging platform for your needs. We recommend going with a self-hosted platform. There are a few choices when it comes to self-hosted platforms, but the most popular is WordPress.org.
The next step is to choose a web hosting service. For new bloggers, we strongly recommend Bluehost. You will get a Free domain name when you sign up with them and if you don’t like their services, they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Conclusion
We hope that you’ve learned some helpful information about the world of blogging. If you’ve managed to start a blog, then your next step is to work on your blog content in order to keep your future readers satisfied and engaged. Feel free to check out our extensive list of blogging resources which will help you to run and grow your new blog!
Hi Anya. I really like the way you explain how to start a blog on your website firstsiteguide. In particular, the pictures of the basic blog structure. I wanted to get your permission to use it in my class as I am a teacher, developing a unit on how to start a blog for my grade 6 students. It would be part of their year 6 English curriculum.
Hi Terrence, it’s not a problem at all. A simple credit would be appreciated. Thanks!
Outstanding post. Well done Anya! And I couldn’t agree more with Bluehost, and then simply install WordPress as the site builder. In fact, over the years I have eventually moved all my domains to Bluehost. I have also started using the Gutenberg Blocks Editor plugin for WordPress. Works really well to make your content more understandable to both readers and search engines. And seeing that user experience along with site load speed are major SEO ranking factors? The Gutenberg WP Blocks Editor really contribute hugely to user experience.
Nice post and I really appreciate your hard work. Blog commenting is also the best medium to share our views. Nice article you have shared.
I appreciate your support Frank. Thanks!
You can also start your own social media marketing business and start earning from Instagram marketing and Youtube marketing.
A blog is a great platform to learn a lot and your articles are great
Thanks a lot Robin!
Glad you can reply to me, I am very happy, your website design is very beautiful, I like it very much!
I was so happy to finally have my blog published then decided to take it down. My big mistake I didn’t do a lot of research. I used wix and found out they don’t have a working comment feature that will not allow visitors to log in. I’m late for 14days for full refund so I was charged for full year tried to ask for partial refund got denied. Wix is easy to use but stay away from them. I’m trying to learn how to use wordpress coz last time I made website was during college years
Thanks for your comment Tess. Let me know if you need any help with WordPress. All the best with your blogging journey!
Thank you for the article. I have been meaning to start a blog for a long time.
Thank you so much for this valuable post. This is what I was actually looking for. I will also bookmark this page for future help.
Thanks for reading it Ryan, and thank you for your kind words.
I love the Star Wars style picture for this post! Very creative!
Thanks Wayne!
Very good blog! Do you have any helpful hints ffor aspiring writers?
I’m planning to start my own siite soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you recommend starting with a free platform
like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are soo many options out there that I’m completely confused ..
Any ideas? Thanks a lot!
Hi Notizie,
Self-hosted platforms allow you to run a blog using your own domain. Aside from following your domain registrar and web hosting company’s rules, you’re fully in charge of your blog and its contents. You have a number of choices when it comes to self-hosted systems (also called a Content Management System or CMS). The most popular is WordPress.org.
Start with using a spell checker and a grammar checker.
Time + good content + honesty + a fresh attitude = a readable blog.
Start where you are. Write every day, find someone to edit your stuff.
The sooner you start, the quicker you fail and failures is where we learn about successes.
Good points Bill!
Thanks for the content…it really helped me in school!
Nice Article, I love the way, you have written such a excellent post!! Perfect design!!
Thanks Aman!
Thank you for this great article on what blog is and the entire process of blogging. Indeed this helped me a lot as I am a very new person to blogging. The article gave me a clear insight of the blog and it will help me in an online course where I am supposed to participate in a blog discussion. Eventually, I will think of establishing my own blog.
Cheers
Salome
You’re welcome Salome. Good luck with your online course.
I think this is one of the most significant information for me. And i’m glad reading your article. I really enjoyed this post. Big fan, thank you!
Thanks James! Glad you like it.
Very impressive!
Thanks a lot!
Hi! I have been wanting to start a blog. My roadblocks are being afraid of failure as I know I need to constantly create new content, but I guess my question is how often? (every day? once a week?) and I also need a niche. I would like a lifestyle blog that I can blog about being a military wife with a job and everything that is going on in my life etc, which can include almost everything. But I don’t want to seem too scattered at the same time. I would also want to create new content that is engaging! help! 🙂
Hey Sarah,
I think it’s great that you want to start a blog! I like the idea of a lifestyle blog – we have a great guide that can lead you through the entire process of starting a lifestyle blog (with a few great examples of lifestyle blogs you can find inspiration from)! Or we can do it for you for free – if you’re interested in that write to use at [email protected]
Regarding your question about content creation – you need to know that this is going to be YOUR blog, which means YOU decide how much content you want to publish and what kind of content you’re going to create! Your first post should be about you – give your future readers a little introduction about yourself, your idea behind the blog, etc and later you can let the story leads you further. Experiment a bit, write about different things that you find to be valuable for sharing. In the beginning, you don’t have to have a content publishing schedule – whenever you feel like writing do it and press publish. Just feel free to practice – it’s your first time being a blogger, the world of blogging is a new thing for you and making mistakes is just fine! No blogger started without making mistakes and no blogger exists without making mistakes because you learn from them 🙂
Your blog is YOUR online space – you have total freedom on doing whatever you wish with it and from all of us here at FirstSiteGuide you have full support! 🙂
Goodluck with your blog Sarah, and if you need any help we’re always here for you!
PS. see blogs of other military wives like The Frugal Navy Wife, The Military Wife and Mom, Army Wife 101, etc
This was a fantastic blog. A lot of very good information given, I had no idea what a blog was or how to start one. I will definitely use this information in the very near future. I have saved this link and will return in a couple of months, when I need to build my first blog. Thank you for the information.
Hi,
Thank you for the useful tips on how to start a blog. I especially agree with the sentence, “Every human being has its story to tell”. Blogging is a lot of work but what a great way to record your story and share with others. Thank you for sharing!
Great post, blogging is hard. We run a travel blog and I think the most important thing we tell people is to travel with a purpose, Do not just wander around the world aimlessly. So many travel blogs do not really have a purpose or a niche. Niche is key and many miss out on that because they want to cover and do it all. Do not just start a blog because you think you will get rich quick and be able to travel the world. It takes a lot of work and lots of time.
it is a very useful article……now I’m gonna create a blog.
Good luck Aneesha!
Fantastic piece, well tailored…. You sort of cleared my phobias… Now I can give it a shot… I pray I don’t run out of contents!…a big kudos
Good luck!